EGYPT (ARAB REPUBLIC OF EGYPT): POPULATION: 72 MILLION. ESTABLISHED IN 1922. EGYPT'S HUGE AND GROWING POPULATION IS AMONG THE BEST-EDUCATED (AND WORST EMPLOYED) IN THE ARAB WORLD. IN THE LAST 50 YEARS, SINCE NATIONALISTS OUSTED A CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY, AND THE LAST VESTIGES OF BRITISH CONTROL, EGYPT HAS BEEN DEMOCRATIC, BUT AUTHORITARIAN. IT COVERS AN AREA OF 1,001,449 SQ KM, ITS CAPITAL CITY IS CAIRO, AND ITS OFFICIAL LANGUAGE IS ARABIC.

June 2010: Nesma Airlines (NSM) plans to offer scheduled and charter flights to destinations in Europe and the Middle East, mainly to Saudi Arabia.

March 2013: Nesma Airlines (NSM) operates a scheduled service between Cairo and Tabouk and Taif in Saudi Arabia, together with charter services linking cities in Europe and Egypt with destinations in the Middle East. Transporting pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj and Umrah forms a major part of the airline's business.

October 2014: News Item A-1: Saudia (SVA) is set to commence its first scheduled international services out of Gassim later next year. Schedule data shows (SVA) will connect the central Saudi Arabian town with Dubai International with a 6x weekly service beginning January 1, 2015. Operations are on-board either A320 or EMB-170 equipment.

October 2016: Saudi-Egyptian carrier Nesma Airlines (NSM) has begun services from Hail, in the north of Saudi Arabia, as domestic competition in the country intensifies.

The desert kingdom’s regulator, the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), has overseen the issue of licenses to several new airlines, including Nesma, in the past year. For years, traffic in the country has been largely monopolized by national carrier Saudia (SVA), with around 10% going to hybrid carrier flynas (NAZ).

Foreign carriers have also noticeably increased services to Saudi Arabia in an attempt to win a part of the rapidly growing air travel market in the most populous of the Gulf states.

Nesma (NSM) intends to use Hail as a hub to a network of 8 smaller northern Saudi cities: Turaif, Qaisumah, Arar, Rafha, Aljouf, Tabuk, Qaseem and Madinah under the local equivalent of essential air service (EAS) contracts. (NSM) also plans to start services to the Saudi capital, Riyadh, the country’s main commercial center Jeddah, and the oil-rich Eastern province city of Dammam. Details of services to the last 3 cities will be announced in November.

Commenting on the start of Nesma (NSM)’s services, (GACA) Director General Northern Airports Hamad Alkhemaish said the flights marked the start of a national project for hub airports. flynas (NAZ) has been given authority to launch a similar series of (EAS) routes to smaller cities, based on a hub at Abha, in the far southwest of the country.

Nesma Airlines (NSM) (CEO) Faisal Alturki said (NSM) would build up a fleet of 6 ATR 72-600 turboprops over the next 3 years. It also intended to acquire single examples of the Airbus A320 and A319 for services from Hail to Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam. 2 larger A321s are also planned to operate services between the latter 3 cities.

Partly because of the start of Nesma services, (GACA) is looking to expand Hail airport. A study is underway that will look at the existing terminal and expansion of the apron area to allow for more aircraft to be parked.